How Not to Market Obamacare to Millennials

The White House is desperate to sign up Alabama's
Millennials for Obamacare. With the March 31 enrollment deadline closing fast,
the latest figures show that only 28 percent of the state's Obamacare sign-ups
are between ages 18 and 34. That's a far cry from the 40 percent that the White
House wants.

Blame the Obamacare marketing team. Since the exchanges
launched last October, their attempts to convince us to sign up have been
inappropriate, incoherent, and simply insulting.

The list of examples is long and painful, but the
"Brosurance" ads—which have gone viral across the country—are the most famous
flop by far. In print and social media, these ads paint the picture of
Millennials as drunks and dolts.

One ad shows three young men—"bros"—doing a keg stand. Its
tagline: "Don't tap into your beer money to cover those medical bills." Another
tries to link flu shots to liquor shots. The worst ad shows a guy and a girl
about to hook up. It reads, "I hope he's as easy to get as this birth control."

Needless to say, this insulted more Millennials than it convinced.
They ultimately reached a huge portion of the youth market, but only because
the outrage was so intense that the ads were lampooned on national television.
When Comedy Central showed the ads to a group of twenty-somethings,
every last one expressed disgust and disappointment.

Those same Millennials were likely left scratching their
heads at some of the White House's other marketing ploys.

Take the recent Magic Johnson ad, for instance. It was
clearly made by someone who doesn't understand anyone under 30. Most
Millennials don't even know who Magic Johnson is. He retired in 1991. Today's
college students were all born after that—meaning they couldn't tell you if he
played baseball, basketball, or maybe cricket.

Other ads have drawn scorn and ridicule. The "pajama boy"
social media campaign led to scathing responses from the media for making
Millennials look self-absorbed and annoying. The "Mom jean" campaign
tried—and failed—to link health coverage with awkward-fitting pants. The case
for healthcare had never been less clear.

One of the administration's allies, Get Covered America,
took the confusion a step further. They created a two-minute original song
featuring singing cats, dogs, and birds. Intended to spark a nationwide
increase in enrollments, the ad was greeted by silence, only receiving 60,000
views on YouTube.

Given such pitiful attempts at reaching the young and the
healthy, it's no surprise that Millennials haven't responded by signing up for
Obamacare in droves. In reality, it's too expensive for too many
Millennials—and none of the marketing campaigns have been slick enough to bury
this fact.

Obamacare leaves the average 27 year old in Alabama facing a
35 percent premium increase for insurance plans on the exchange, according to Forbes. Even after subsidies, that's an
expense that many Millennials can't afford.

Perversely, such high costs make it even harder for us to
purchase health insurance in the future, when we can afford it. By not signing
up for expensive plans now, insurance rates will increase as soon as next
year—for everyone. That leaves us with two choices: Buy an unaffordable plan
now, or wait and buy an unaffordable plan later.

Our only remaining option is to opt out of Obamacare
entirely. If the latest numbers are any indication, that's exactly what
Millennials in Alabama are doing. We know a bad deal when we see one—and we're
not as dumb as Obamacare's marketers seems to
think.